Awoken
by Arachne's Quill
Summary: The events of Fire Emblem: Awakening, with a few changes.
1. Chapter 1

A woman leapt down from a carriage. She had finally snuck into Ylisse. Now it was time to find a way to not be killed by guards. She knew what the exalt was trying to do with his slaughter of Plegia. She had taken advantage of it, making it into the country at last. She knew she could never live a normal life. Her past haunted her, in more ways than one. There were not only the horrors and experiences, but if her location was ever discovered...

It would mean her life. Her life and likely her son's as well. She would live a life in hiding, sacrifice everything and live underground to keep her baby safe from evil. And when he was old enough, she would do all she could to enable him to fight back.

But first she had to get to safety, she reminded herself, ducking behind a tree and slipping into the forest.

-SEVERAL YEARS LATER-

In a chair facing a large window, staring out over Ylisse, the girl sat regally. Or at least, she tried to be regal, but clutching a squirming four-year-old detracted from her composure. Exactly a decade older than her squirming sister, Emmeryn was the ruler of the Halidom. She was currently attempting to tell a story to her younger siblings, who were not entirely interested. It didn't help that they were constantly needed for lessons, while Emmeryn nearly always had her schedule filled with, well, ruling. It was nigh impossible to find time together these days.

She set down her sister, Lissa, who scampered away to sit in the corner of the room. The room itself was very small, a corner room leading off a hallway. It had four comfortable chairs and an enormous window that faced the sun every morning. The hallway it was attached to very rarely saw any traffic, so the setting was quite relaxed. Her eight-year-old brother, Chrom, would frequently come here to read. Right now, Chrom was sitting in a chair across the room, petulantly refusing to listen to the story Lissa insisted on hearing. Lissa wanted to hear the story about a beautiful dragon, while Chrom wanted a story about knights. After a short discussion, a decision was made. Emmeryn would tell the story of the First Exalt.


	2. Chapter 2

SEVERAL YEARS LATER...

Since Emmeryn's rise to power, Plegia had been sending groups of barbarians across the border to disrupt trade. Under any other ruler, war would have been declared long since. Emmeryn strained to maintain the peace.

The army was negligible, having become obsolete for the most part by Emmeryn's policy of peace. The majority of the soldiers had retired, though some military bodies still existed. Phila's Air Squad was the largest and most active, followed by the Ylissean Knights, led by Frederick. Still, if it ever came to outright war, Ylisse would be crushed without substantial aid.

Chrom, as Prince of the Sword, was expected to lead the main army of House Ylisse, but only Phila's and Frederick's factions still existed completely. Emmeryn had forbidden involuntary enlistment, and most of Ylisse also urged for this peace. Chrom had been allowed to gather and train a group of elite soldiers, all of whom would be able to rise to positions of leadership along Frederick and Phila if the situation called for it.

Unfortunately, the situation grew dire long before their training could even near completion. Barely a month after Chrom had begun recruiting the rare soldiers with both motivation and potential, Plegia doubled its efforts. It was a dry, windy night across most of Ylisse, and the weather was clearly advantageous to the marauding Plegian brutes. The report was unclear on how many villages were burning, but one thing was clear. It was far too many.

"Attention, Shepherds!" Chrom called out through the garrison. Lissa trudged blearily behind him, ringing a large bell. "Awaken, and defend Ylisse!" In the minutes that followed, the Shepherds rushed out of their rooms at varying speeds.

The first Shepherd ready was Sully, the descendant of a long line of capable Ylissean knights. She and Chrom had known each other for quite some time before the Shepherds were created, and she was among the first to be inducted.

Shortly behind Sully was Stahl, one of Sully's childhood friends. He was usually modest and quiet, as far as Chrom had seen. When it came to battle, however, he was incongruously fierce. He was also learned in herbal medicines.

Miriel soon stepped into the planning room, carrying two of her tomes. Her reasons for joining the Shepherds had never been fully known to Chrom. She had merely shown up and joined them in the middle of a battle and followed them back.

Kellam slipped into the room quietly after Miriel. He was surprisingly difficult to see when not wearing his suit of bright-orange armor. He was a quiet man who attracted little attention; he had joined the Shepherds when turned down from the Knights.

Sumia was the next to stumble into the planning room, wearing a suit of dark blue armor. Constantly unsure of how she could be a help in battle, she had now tried several different battle styles, failing miserably at each of them.

Following Sumia through the door was Ricken, a boy who was altogether too young to be involved in battle. Chrom knew he was from an old noblility that had lost most of its power. He was Miriel's apprentice in the arcane arts.

Several minutes later, Vaike rushed into the room. He had likely overslept, Chrom guessed. Chrom had found Vaike when Emmeryn visited a small, impoverished village south of Ylisstol. Vaike had been inspired to help defend the peace, soon becoming a close friend.

Last to enter was Maribelle, a young, stern noblewoman who was Lissa's best friend. Surely enough, Maribelle walked in with precise posture and impeccable aristocratic attire Chrom felt was not exactly appropriate for war.

"Now that we're all gathered," he said as they sat down around the map table, "Ylisse has suffered a blatant attack from Plegia. Still the Exalt refuses to bring this to war, and the citizens threaten to revolt if war is declared." These last sentiments were stated with a barely controlled temper. Can't the people see that we'll be destroyed if we don't fight back? The Shepherds around the table nodded or made similar gestures of understanding.

"Surely their attitudes will be changed by tonight's assault?" Maribelle inquired.

"We shall see. Now, we will have to separate for this battle. I propose we split into groups of three. Stahl, Sumia, and Ricken will head to the northern villages near Crimsonwood. Lissa, Miriel, and Kellam will head to defend the villages around Veritas Pass. Maribelle, Vaike, and Sully will be protecting the villages bordering the South Sea. I will be overseeing the battles with Frederick from wyvern."

* * *

Janice yawned and sleepily rubbed at her eyes, rolling over onto her side. She had been having the most wonderful dream, and was eager to get back to it. She pulled the blanket over her eyes to block out the light, and covered her exposed ear. Her brother, Marc, was making too much of a racket. It was altogether inappropriate. After several minutes of restlessly turning over, she decided the best course of action would be to get up and quickly rebuke him, then scamper back to bed. It was clear the cacophony would not be ending anytime soon. However, just as she was resigning herself to drag herself from her cot, it occurred to her that these noises were no mere human racket. They were panicked screams from the distance.

Gripped with a sudden fear, Janice threw herself from the bed and rushed out to the front door. Dashing to the window, she saw exactly what she had feared. Though it was pitch black outside, the scene was unmistakable. The village, in all its humble glory, was being methodically and chaotically demolished. The town hall was a pile of rubble, the church a smoldering pyre. Houses and wagons lay destroyed. Janice watched in horror as a pair of shadows approached the house next to her, smashed in the door and windows, and entered. Janice flinched as she heard the screams. Stunned, she could do nothing but pray that this was all some horrible nightmare.

Just as she heard heavy boots approaching her own door, there was an explosion of light from outside. The brigand was thrown back by a blast of wind, his torch flying out of his hand to land in a pile of stones across the road. Startled, Janice turned to the other window, in the center of the village. A young boy, who had just dismounted his steed, stepped away from her house. His face, illuminated with a magical green light from the book in his hands, reminded her too much of Marc. Dazed, she rushed toward her bedroom.

"Marc?" she called, her voice quavering. Marc looked up from where he had been wrapped in his blanket, the fear on his face so prominent she could see it without lighting the lamp – the flames from the window were enough.

"Sis? Are we… Are we going to die?" he asked in a voice so quiet and deathly frightened that Janice forgot all about her own fear. Janice's heart lurched, and she rushed to comfort him.

"No. We're safe… And in the morning we can all help fix the broken houses," she said comfortingly, embracing him. She held him and gazed out the window. The boy who controlled the wind and his two companions with lance and sword were rushing to the rescue of the village. "Everything will be okay," she said firmly, unsure whether she was speaking to reassure Marc or herself.


End file.
